In order to reduce energy consumption, the use of high-efficiency light sources (e.g., gas discharge lamps, such as compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), and light-emitting diode (LED) light sources) is increasing, while the use of low-efficiency light sources (e.g., incandescent lamps or halogen lamps) is decreasing. Many consumers are replacing older screw-in incandescent lamps with screw-in high-efficiency lamps to provide a quick path to reducing energy consumption. A screw-in high-efficiency lamp includes a light source (e.g., a CFL tube or LED light engine) and an integral load regulation circuit (e.g., a ballast circuit or an LED drive circuit) housed in a base of the high-efficiency lamp. The high-efficiency lamp receives an alternating-current (AC) voltage from an AC power source and the load regulation circuit regulates at least one of a load voltage generated across the light source and a load current conducted through the light source. In most installations, the screw-in high-efficiency lamp may be turned on and off by actuating a light switch coupled between the AC power source and the high-efficiency lamp. Many screw-in high-efficiency lamps may be dimmed by a dimmer switch that replaces the light switch.
Some screw-in high-efficiency lamps now also include integral wireless receivers, e.g., radio-frequency (RF) receivers, for receiving wireless signals, e.g., RF signals, from a remote control device, such that the screw-in high-efficiency may be turned on and off and dimmed in response to the remote control device. For example, the RF signals may be transmitted using a standard RF communication protocol, such as, the communication protocol defined by the Zigbee standard. In order to control a high-efficiency lamp having an RF receiver, most remote control devices must first be associated with the high-efficiency lamp, such that the high-efficiency lamp is responsive to the wireless signals transmitted by the remote control devices. For example, the high-efficiency lamp may store unique identifiers (such as serial numbers, previous access network identifiers (PANIDs), network identifiers, and/or group identifiers) of one or more remote control devices and may respond to wireless signals including the unique identifiers to which the high-efficiency lamp is associated. An example of a prior art association procedure is described in greater detail in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0111491, published May 15, 2008, entitled RADIO-FREQUENCY LIGHTING CONTROL SYSTEM, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0265568, published Sep. 18, 2014, entitled COMMISSIONING LOAD CONTROL SYSTEMS, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
A remote control operating according to the Zigbee standard may be associated to a load control device (e.g., a controllable lamp) using a number of different procedures. For example, according to the Zigbee Light Link standard, a user may move the remote control close to controllable lamp and actuate a button on the remote control in order to associate the remote control with the controllable lamp.
In addition, a user may associate the remote control with the controllable lamp using a network device, such as a hub or a smart phone, according to the Zigbee Home Automation Standard. The smart phone may communicate with a home automation bridge, for example, using Wi-Fi technology. The home automation bridge may communicate with the remote control and the controllable lamp according to the Zigbee standard in order to associate the remote control with the controllable lamp.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a prior art association procedure 100 for associating a remote control with a load control device (such as a controllable lamp) using a programming device (such as a smart phone) according to the Zigbee standard. The method may begin at 102. At 104, a user may use an application running on the smart phone to cause the home automation bridge to enter an association mode. At 106, the user may actuate a button on the remote control to bring the remote control into the system (e.g., to associate the remote control with the home automation bridge). At 108, after the remote control is brought into the system, the remote control may wake up from a sleep mode periodically. For example, after the remote control is brought into the system, the remote control may wake up from a sleep mode on a periodic that is less than 8 seconds (e.g., about every 7.5 to 7.68 seconds) to poll the home automation bridge for a group number to use to communicate on the system. At 110, the user may use the application on the smart phone to identify the remote control device to be used in the system and create a relationship between the remote controls and a load control device. The home automation bridge chooses a group number for the selected remote control devices, at 112, upon receiving the identification of the remote control devices from the user selection on the application and sends the group number to the remote control device in response to the next polling request from the remote control device after the identification of the remote control device on the smart phone. The method may end at 114.
Since the remote control is typically a battery-powered device, the remote control may be configured to enter a sleep mode in which its internal RF transceiver is disabled (and thus cannot receive the RF signals) in order to reduce the energy consumption of the battery and increase the lifetime of the battery. Because the remote control device needs to receive the group number from the home automation bridge to communicate in the system, the remote control devices need to wake up periodically to determine if an RF signal is being transmitted by a control device in the system (e.g., the home automation bridge). For example, the remote control may wake up on a periodic that is less than 8 seconds (e.g., about every 7.5 to 7.68 seconds) to see if an RF signal is being transmitted. However, waking up at that rate may not provide an acceptable lifetime for the battery. For example, the life of the battery may be less than one year if the remote control wakes up on a periodic that is less than 8 seconds (e.g., about every 7.5 to 7.68 seconds) to poll for a group number. As the home automation bridge is waiting for the application on the smart phone to identify the remote control device before generating a group number for the remote control device, the remote control device has to continue to poll for the group number for periods of time that decrease the battery life of the remote control device. Additionally, when there are multiple remote control devices polling for the group number at such a frequent interval, the polling requests may cause interference with one another or other RF communications on the network, which may cause delays in network communications, responses to polling requests, and other network inefficiencies. Thus, there exists a need for a battery power efficient and network communication efficient method of using a programming device to associate a remote control with a load control device that communicates according to the Zigbee protocol.